A cautious optimism as Lynn schools head into 2014

LYNN – The School Department hit all the benchmarks for a banner year but one stumbling block could change the trajectory of 2014.MCAS scores are up, a new programs are growing as is enrollments, plans for a new Marshall Middle School are moving ahead but plans for a new Pickering may have hit a wall, at least temporarily.In November residents overwhelmingly approved the building of a new Marshall Middle School clearing the way for a $92 million project that is slated to break ground early in 2014. However a month later the state’s School Building Authority nixed adding Pickering Middle School to a future project list setting off concern among school officials. School Committee members Charlie Gallo and John Ford invited the state back for a second tour of the school to further advocate for the project and while nothing will be changed in 2013, the pair are optimistic that funding could be found for a new Pickering in 2014.”I’m cautiously optimistic,” Gallo said.While those two schools dream of new digs, 2013 meant rehabs for the city’s remaining 23 schools. Breed Middle School and Lynn Vocational Technical Institute received new windows and a new roof respectively. New boilers went into four schools, Ford received new floors and Cobbet and Tracy, two of the city’s oldest schools received interior face lifts including cleaning, painting and repair work.The biggest challenge, according to Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan was reconfiguring the Ford School Annex to bring the entire School Administration under one roof. The new Bennett Street location left a void at LVTI but that was filled when the new Early Childhood Education Center was opened in September. Many parents viewed the idea of busing 250 kindergartners from various schools across town to 90 Commercial St. as controversial but overcrowding drove the left administrators with few options.In May school enrollment figures showed three classes with 30 students in Brickett and three in Ford. The situation at Tracy was even more dire with five classrooms with 30 or more students. Tracy school Principal Patty Griffin, at the time, called the early childhood center a workable solution and four months into the program it appears to be so.The School Department is still in overcrowding danger however. Earlier this month Superintendent Catherine Latham said additional learning space was going to have to be found for at least two elementary schools.While the Latham struggles with growing enrollments and deteriorating buildings she has earned bragging rights for the districts MCAS scores.”Six level 1 schools, 19 Level 2s and Level 3s, no Level 4s anymore, I think we’re doing pretty darn good,” she said back in September.The MCAS news came on the heels of the district learning its two under performing schools, Connery and Harrington, were moved from failing to Level 3 status. The news continued to improve when it was also reported that Lynn Woods and Classical High School jumped from Level 3 status to Level 1 over the span of one year. Other Level 1 schools include Aborn, Hood, Lincoln-Thomson and Sewell-Anderson. But, the new year could bring testing uncertainty as the School Department prepares to switch from MCAS to a new program, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Seventeen schools have been chosen by the state to field test the new exams this spring. PARCC is a consortium of 19 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the aim is to create a common set of assessments for grades K-12.Through all the concerns over new testing and old buildings students continue to flourish in the Lynn Public School system. English High School’s Jr. ROTC Drill Team and CyberPatriot team brought home trophies, Ford and Ingalls elementary schools were named Imagine Nation Super Schools by Imagine Learning and Classical High School was recognized by US News and World Report as one of the more notable high schools in the st